"Thank you for saying that." It was odd, hearing Duke admit he was wrong.
"You don't have to take it over now. I'm just saying the Silver Feather is your home. If you ever wanted to put down roots, you could."
"It's a generous offer."
"But you're not going to take it."
"I don't know."
"Are you heading back to China?"
"It all depends."
"On what?"
"How all this goes down."
"C'mon inside, boy. It's time we set things right."
Chapter 31
Four hours later, Ridge strode up the flagstone sidewalk at dark. No stars were out. The only sounds he heard were his footsteps against the pavers.
There were desert sounds too, of course, but his mind didn't fully register those. Inside that house was the woman he'd been waiting all his life for, and each scrape of his boots took him closer and closer, the sharp slap-slap marking off each step like a promise.
Two minutes.
One.
Thirty seconds.
A breath.
A heartbeat.
And then he was there. Her front porch boards creaked underneath his weight. The lights were out. Windows dark and shuttered. They stared at him like vacant eyes, dull and challenging. Filling him with an impending sense of dread.
All the hope that had gotten him this far vanished and doubt set in.
Did she still want him? What if she turned him down? Had he let it go too long? Had she fallen out of love with him? What would he say? How did he start to mend things?
He should go. Come back in the morning. Things would look brighter in daylight.
Why the hesitation?
Only a brief while ago he was running to get here. Breathless and anxious and excited and ready, oh so damned ready to have her in his arms again.
But doubt, that sneaky villain, crept in, whispered poisonous words. Telling him she was better off without him.
No. He was not going to let fear of intimacy chase him away again. Not now. Not when he'd come so far. He couldn't live one more minute without her in his life.
The woman inside that house was important. The most important thing in the world. Without Kaia, he had no world. She was his sun and his moon and his stars. She was the air he breathed. The water he drank. The soil beneath his feet. The burning fire in his heart.
One word from her lips would save his life. One sweet word.
Yes.
But what if she said no?
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, balled them into hard knots to keep them from trembling. His blood rushed through his veins and his heart throbbed. A hard, steady ka-pow, ka-pow.
It was quiet. Too quiet. No dogs raising the alarm.
Then he thought of something truly horrible. What if she had moved on? What if she'd cleared out the pets because she had overnight company? What if she had a man in there with her?
Ah damn. Ah shit. He'd not even thought about that.
Go! Just go. Leave. Call first.
But he did not. Ridge took that last step. Onto the welcome mat with a puppy's face on it. Raised his hand to the door. Rapped.
Quick.
Staccato.
Let me in. Let me in.
He waited. Held his breath.
Listened. Heard nothing.
Knocked again. Cocked his head, listened harder.
Was that the sound of socked feet padding toward the door? The porch light came on, bathing him in a halo of yellow.
Air leaked slowly from his lungs.
The door opened and there she stood in her oversized Minnie Mouse sleep shirt. Even in the dim light, she looked beautiful, the fall of dark hair framing her dear face.
A face he'd seen in his dreams every night since he'd left. Her deep ebony eyes looked surprised, but lurking beneath the surprise, was that joy? Her gaze latched onto his and she flicked out her tongue to touch it to her full lush lips. Lips he'd desperately missed kissing. Moisture clung to her mouth, glistened with warmth and invitation.
As if he'd just seen her that very morning, Ridge said casually, "Hey."
For an eternal second she just stood there, not smiling, not talking, not moving, simply taking him in. Waking up to the moment, shrugging off sleep.
Then, with a voice as heavenly as harp music, she whispered on a sigh, "Ridge?"
He wasn't even aware he'd opened his arms wide until she rushed into them and flung her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. Her whispers turned to whimpers as she kept repeating, "Ridge, Ridge, Ridge."
Chest aching with emotion, he wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her against his chest. Held her. Just held and squeezed her as hard as he could without cutting off her breath.
She pushed against him, made hungry noises.
"Kaia."
In a frenzy, their mouths found each other, met, sealed, thrust, burned. He tasted her passion, her beauty, her kind sweet heart. His hand kneaded the soft skin at the nape of her neck, slipped down to her shoulders, and then to her back. Savoring each and every touch as if feeling her for the very first time.